Love You Forever
by Kaida22
Summary: Joyce knowingly creates a chasm between Buffy and Angel thinking she is doing the best thing for her daughter. How far is she willing to go to keep them apart? and can Buffy and Angel survive it together? Set after Angel lost his soul, got it back & returned from hell. Rated T for future content. *photo credited to Deviant Art's JuliaAngels
1. Chapter 1

The Pain...oh the pain...her love, her one and only walking away from her forever. The world as she knows it is ending. Imaging living without Angel by her side, fighting in sync with her, feeling his touch, his lips, his love...life without him is nothing...empty...meaningless...pointless...

Their last conversation ended in disaster. He held her, told her he loved her...to the farthest reaches of the Galaxy he LOVED her...forever and always, then he shattered that dream. For a moment she was intact, not shredded by terror or responsibility, duty or pain, all that mattered was him. As his lips formed the words, her ears refused to hear them, her heart stopped beating, her world blackened, but she couldn't let him see. She was strong...she was adaptable...she was the Slayer...she turned and left without a word.

Her brain was an incomprehensible mass of thoughts. Pain, betrayal, love, hate, jealousy...so jumbled up she couldn't decipher one from the other. She walked and walked not knowing where she was headed. Her feet hit grass and pavement alike, not knowing or caring the difference. She only noticed when her face hit the dirt.

A quick look around her told her the story. She was in the cemetery of course, a place her slayer self felt most comfortable, the peaceful headstones, the undisturbed grass, the weary souls that lay beneath her feet.

Her solitude was shattered forever. How could he think she'd be remotely happy without him by her side? Her life wasn't normal...it could NEVER be normal, she didn't even WANT it to be normal anymore. Tears sprang evermore profusely from her eyes.

The nearest headstone cast a small light from the candle perched upon it. The flowers on the graves spoke of love and remembrance, two things she would never have again. Her anger boiled and all that hurt balled up and exploded.

In a flying rage with tears streaming down her face she decapitated and trampled every flower, extinguished every candle and broke every headstone. She hit until her knuckles bled, her fingers broke & her wrists shattered...yet she kept hitting. The torn up grass the desecrated graves, the stones in pieces...mirrored he pain she felt in every cell of her body.

She lay down & sobbed. The blood...the pain...She cried and cried...letting the rain, the hurt & the pain swallow her.

oooooooo

Her fist contacted flesh and blood oozed from the wound, the sharp snap of bones ringed in her ears. "Bitch!" the injured human screamed, "Who do you think you are?" he asked gasping for air & grasping his injured side. "you can't just go throwing people around like that!" He reached towards his hip and pulled out a pistol, the cool metal twinkled in the shine of the streetlight. As he pulled the hammer back he shouted with a deadly look in his eye "You're going to get yourself killed."

She stared him down and watched his face as his expression changed from one of pure hatred to one of terror as she let her inner demon show through. She saw his finger tighten around the trigger and she lept into the air. He let out a vicious battle cry and pulled the trigger. The bullet embedded itself into her forehead and her head snapped back with a sickening crunch

She landed gracefully a few feet away from him with one leg bent beneath her and the other out to the side. As she stared him down she felt the waves of fear radiating off of him and the smell of it drove her wild. He was frozen where he stood, every instinct was screaming at him to run but logic told him she should be dead.

The bullet gently receded from her skull, clanking to the ground. Her flesh sealed over the fresh wound without a trace. "That tickled!" she said with a coy grin and a girly giggle as she jumped up and sank her fangs into his neck.

oooooooo

Buffy awoke with a start trying to shake off the dream, wincing as her injuries brought back her memories of the breakup. She stood shakily and walked out of the desecrated cemetery.


	2. Chapter 2

_**I have recently updated Chapter 1 with information that is vital to understanding Chapter 2. Please re-read Chapter 1 before you continue...**_

_**oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooo**_

_"There are still no new leads in the ongoing investigation for the perpetrator of the most heinous act of vandalism Sunnydale has ever seen. Graves of all sizes and families were destroyed with no discernible connection between them."_

_-"It appears that this was the work of one vandal, possible with a sledgehammer or some other type of bludgeoning instrument, we uncovered fingerprints or DNA at the scene of the crime and have no leads or suspects at this time. However there is still much of the area to canvas and a lot of evidence to sift through back at the station. We hope to have a solid lead by the end of the week."-_

_"that was Police Chief Evans from Sunnydale Metro."_

_oooooooo_

Buffy stood in the shower, the ice cold water poured down on her head, calming her frazzled nerves. Her swollen wrists throbbed painfully but she could feel the new bone growth already forming. Most of her scars and bruises were gone except for the large gashes in her forearms, though she couldn't recall where exactly those came from.

She forced herself in a pain induced coma and was easily out for three days. Although they were easy to go into, with her slayer strength, they were not so easy coming out of. She was lucky her mom was at an art exhibit all week and she had no one to check in on her. Although the police had discovered the scene, she was certain she wouldn't get caught. Luck was in her favor as they found no evidence, her friends were busy with their own summer plans and Angel…Angel was holed up all day.

Her chest ached and her throat tightened at the thought of her lover…ex-lover…She shoved her face under the icy water again letting the shock force his name from her conscious mind.

oooooooo

Eventually she forced herself from the water and carefully dried off, wincing as she patted down her wrists. Dressing was more painful then she would have imagined as she stood in front of her closet dripping wet and shivering. Every outfit reminded her of Angel.

She inadvertently let mind wander to her perfect night with Angel, and as her memory became more and more vivid, her hands started to follow the path his took that night down her naked body. Before she realized it, she could have sworn he was there, touching her in the way only he could ever touch her. The emotion and arousal of that night merging into the pain and heartbreak of this one boiled over.

She lashed out, trying to purge her mind of his torturous body, and smashed her right arm into her full length mirror causing it to shatter and fall to the successful in making her forget him, it also broke her strong will not to let her tears manifest and she ran into the bathroom to clean up with tears streaming from her eyes.

She crouched over the white porcelain sink, staining it red as she picked the glass out of her bleeding hand and fastened bandages to every piece of cut skin and set every broken bone, then she slowly climbed her broken and battered naked body back to bed.

oooooooo

Deep in the woods, behind the grassy solitude of the cemetery she crouched, the place invited her in and yet screamed at her to leave simultaneously. She slowly raised herself erect & stepped solemnly from the undergrowth. The early morning dew stung her bare feet as she walked slowly between the graves, trying not to spook their inhabitants.

Stone after stone she passed, glancing at each name. Some of them she recognized but most of them she didn't, until one caught her eye and her breath. Buffy A. Summers the headstone read. Confusion wafted over her until her eyes spotted the disturbed grass beneath it, then suddenly everything became clear.

A noise to her left startled her and she turned to face the source. Her lover's brooding figure stepped from the trees and spoke one word as the sun broke over the trees and everything burst into flames.

oooooooo

Buffy awoke to the sounds of screaming and she broke into shattered sobs as she realized the screams were hers. She still felt the heat of the fire and the fear that grew deep inside her. She drew her legs in to her chest and scrunched close to her headboard, pulling the sheets tight around her, wishing the world away between heavy, broken sobs.


	3. Chapter 3

Peering through the pane of glass at his lost girl, Angel lost himself. She could never know it was her mother who kept them apart. As much as he wanted to, he wouldn't drive a wedge between her and her mother. He knew that in the end she would hate him for it. As much as it will kill him, at least she will remember him somehow.

The past four days had been a torture for him as he watched her loose herself. She should have known what he knew her well enough to know when she was faking her tough demeanor. She walked out of his home totally numb, he could see the cold, unfeeling, emptiness in her eyes. It took every ounce of self-control he had not to fix her on the spot. He could take the pain away, but he knew it would only increase later when her mother found out he didn't keep his promise.

He knew he should have just let her go, let her move on, but he still needed to protect her. It would have been easier if her walking away was the last he saw of her. Yet his desire to protect her took over. He had no thoughts other than his girl…Buffy…he corrected…she didn't belong to him anymore.

He followed her, slinking between trees, staying in the distance but close enough to hear her heartbeat. She walked almost mechanically, just moving without a destination. The despair was emanating off her in waves. The tears staining her beautiful cheeks sparkled under the glow of the street lights. It tore him to pieces and crushed his already crumbling soul knowing he caused all this pain.

oooooooo

She entered under the looming archway of the graveyard and his heart sank even more. That thought that the only place that she felt at home was a place of death, sorrow and mourning. He saw the obstacle before she did, he wanted to catch her, but he knew that it would be worse if she knew he was there. As she picked herself off the ground he knew her facade had been broken.

He watched as the realization hit her and she threw a candle she'd been staring at for a solid minute across the graves. It tumbled as it hit the ground and extinguished in the dewy grass.

She let out a wail comprised of all her pent-up anguish. His heart shattered as he watched her destroy her solitude, rather, expose to the world how badly he destroyed her. He could hear her bones shattering, feel her heart breaking, and taste her tears. If he wasn't dead already, her self-mutilating display would have killed him.

The one thing he couldn't do for her was die. Strange how important that small fact was and even more so how much he wanted to have that opportunity. That was the only thing separating them, and all the love in the world couldn't fix or cover over that gap. If he couldn't grow old with her, they would never survive. Humanity, the one completely solid thing every relationship in the world is comprised of, theirs lacks.

He watched her, tears sliding down her face, feeling her pain and wanting so badly to take it away. He had no realization of time passing as he watched her breathing and listened to her broken heartbeat. Her sleeping figure on the ground drew him closer as he was drawn on an internal desire to check her injuries. He crept closer, looking for any change in her breathing to indicate her return to consciousness.

Angel crouched over her, examining and counting her injuries. Each finger was broken in multiple places, both wrists were shattered and her shoulder dislocated. He debated cleaning and dressing her wounds, but he decided against it, knowing how much she needed to feel this physical pain and the scars that would follow. He set her shoulder back in place as a protection, in case she got jumped by a vampire when she awoke, and retreated to his hiding spot...hearing her soft moans as she started to dream.

Eventually she woke and he followed her back home, ending up perched outside her window, watching his eternal love wish him away.


	4. Chapter 4

As far as the outside world knew, she had a nasty case of the flue. No one bothered to stop by in fear of catching that virus that made the slayer stay home from school and slayage. The first few days of her confinement were spent in front of the T.V watching daytime television and game shows. Eventually, with the lethargy increasing, she took her frustration of being cooped up all day out on her exercise equipment. In two days she worked herself numb. She woke up, worked out all day until it got dark, showered and slept…over and over again. She never thought, never felt and never cared. The night her mom came home was the first night she left the house.

oooooooo

She wandered aimlessly thorough the 12 cemeteries in Sunnydale, the twelfth being the one she lost it in a few nights ago. She walked up to the yellow crime scene tape covering the entrance, slashed it open and walked inside beneath the wrought iron archway. She expected to see signs of the damage still showing, as it had only been a few days, however the cemetery was in pristine condition. New grass growth was noticeable in places where the ground showed through. She sat herself on a gravestone marked John Doe.

She sat there, stake in hand, lost in the thought of trying not to think. She knew he was here and she tried not to show her true feelings. The fact that he still watched over her undermined the feelings of hatred she was trying to force for him

"If you want my life to be normal, you can't be watching out for me." she yelled out into the seemingly empty cemetery. "If you're planning on leaving either stop following me or confront me." she stated indignantly.

She saw his dark, brooding figure step from the trees out of the corner of her eye and start to approach her.

"I'm sorry Buffy." He said in a dejected tone

"You should be!" she yelled as she jumped off the gravestone. "I can't do what you ask Angel if your still around me all the time!" She caught sight of the tears that were starting to form in his eyes, and as he started to turn and walk away, a sudden truth hit her.

"Do you want me to move on Angel?" He stopped walking but he did not turn to face her, His coldness and lack of response answered her question anyway.

"Angel," she said sternly fighting back the tears that were threatening to fall. She grabbed his arm and turned him to face her. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't want me anymore!" His gaze pierced through her as their eyes locked. Her heartbeat quickened and fluttered. Knowing he could hear her desire for him, she pulled out of his gaze. His hand found her chin and pulled her back to him.

"Buffy, I can't…" his voice trailed off.

"Angel, for one moment, forget the world exists, stop caring about what people think and what others want and tell me truly from your heart what YOU want."

She watched him take an unneeded breath and after a moment of intense staring he spoke one word.

"You."

She wrapped her arms around him and they stood in each other's embrace, both of their hearts healing and their souls and destiny's intertwining once again.

oooooooo

Angel couldn't believe he was once again wrapped in his lovers arms, it was almost too good to be true. He knew that her mother would not be happy, but he also knew that if he had to pick between Buffy or her mother's happiness, he would always choose Buffy.

Realizing that this prolonged contact would only complicate things further, he tried to pull away but she only clung to him harder, refusing to let this tender moment pass.

"Angel?" she said innocently

"Yes love?" he replied

"Kiss me."

He stared into those eyes of hers, trying to resist the magnetic pull they held for him. She lifted her head close to his until there were mere millimeters of air separating them and as she waited for him to cross that tiny void, he debated the consequences.

Her close proximity to him made his thoughts hit the gutter. His chest tightened and as her fingers caressed his broad back he let his heart take over and sank deep into her awaiting lips.

Their passionate kisses blew the rest of the world away. He lost himself in her and promised her silently that he would always and forever be hers. He opened his eyes only to discover she was staring right back at him, so close that their eyelashes almost touched and the intensity of her gaze encouraged him to deepen the kiss.

Her fingers traversed his hair and neck and he pulled her up from the ground, growling as their lips parted for the first time. Their cheeks brushed as he brushed her hair behind her ear and spoke softly, "I love you."

"I love you too." She replied

Their lips found each other again and as they grew more and more passionate, an angry voice shouted out from the cemetery gate.

"Angel! Get away from my daughter!"


End file.
